This invention is concerned with an apparatus for playing hopping games. A hopping game requires a game field, known as "hopscotch", to play. A hopscotch is generally a flat surface divided by lines into areas. Children usually play hopping games on sidewalks, roadsides or any flat ground. When a hopping game is to be played, the common practice is to draw a hopscotch on the ground by a stick, a chalk, a crayon or anything that can form visible lines on the ground. This practice defaces public places. A hopscotch made in this way is not movable and cannot be played during bad weather.
To improve the aforementioned situation, two types of hopscotch have been invented in the past: assembly type and frame type. The assembly type comprises a plurality of mats that can be assembled into a variety of hopscotch for different hopping games. This type is well represented by U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,155,273 issued to Quade and 3,115,340 issued to Stasiuk. The frame type, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,891,793 to Mudry and 3,345,068 to Bowen, is a single pieced hopscotch comprising only the lines needed for defining the game areas. The drawbacks of the assembly type include the safety concern due to the likely slipping of the small mats, inconvenience in packing and carrying because of the many pieces, and the complexity in assembling a game. The frame type, on the other hand, may be entangled during packing for storage or can not be packed at all. Both types, because of their drawbacks and by their nature, may not be used in a pebbled, jungled or any other unfriendly but flat place. Maybe because of their drawbacks, no hopscotch of either type has been found to be popular so far.
The object of this invention is to provide a portable hopscotch which may be placed on any suitable surface (indoor/outdoor) or even on an imperfect but flat surface such as pebbled or full of foliage to play hopping games without undertaking any fastening or assembling procedure.
Another object of this invention is to provide a hopscotch as a single piece which can be easily packed by rolling or folding and readily portable.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a single piece hopscotch which has large enough size for anti-slipping to ensure the safety for children hopping on it.
A further object of this invention is to provide a hopscotch which will be easily manufactured from readily available materials.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a hopscotch which has an attractive shape and appearance that is appealing to children.